
THE ORIGIN OFTHE WAR TERM 



"No MmB Mnr 



J. HOWARD RANDERSON 



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COAT OF ARMS 
OF THE 

DIETRICK FAMILY OF HOLLAND 

The deep red background of the shield exhibits the honor and distinction won for the family by its mem- 
bers who participated in the crusades, for at the time no families were permitted to display red on their 
arms unless representatives of the house had seen service in the wars for the recovery of the sacred places 
in Palestine. The stars suggest the loftiness of aim and the ambition of the bearers of the arms. The 
wing like leaves or side ornaments on the sides, symbolize the virtue and valor which arise above all that 
is unworthy and upbear the shield as on angels wings towards the stars above. 

The silver and gold typify the untarnished honor of the family, while the blue indicates the fidelity 
and loyalty of the owners of this insignia to the cause which they espoused and the overlords to whom they had 
vowed allegiance. The green, beneath the cross, agrees with the springtime of life and the flower of 
manhood who bore this symbol, the freshest and choicest part of an army, and signifies youth, hope and 
progress. The peacock feathers surmounting the crest of the helmet set forth the dignity of the house and 
the proper pride which its members felt in the achievements of their doughty ancestors. The golden stars 
inlaid indicate that this self complacency is justifiable and that no stain has marred the dignity of the house. 

Ad Finem Fidelis— Fai'/A/i// to the end 



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®Ilf ©rtgitt of tijp War olerm 

"Nn illan'0 TJIanb" 

i45 Applied to the World War 




J. HOWARD RANDERSON 

Former member of the 220th and 668th Aero Squadrons, U. S. 

Army, member of the New England Historical and Geneological 

Society, Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society, 

University Club of Albany, Lake George Country Club, 

Lake Placid Club, Colonnade Club of Virginia, 

Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the 

American Legion, and the Dartmouth 

Alumni Association 



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Coyright 1922, by 

J. Howard Randerson, Albany. N. Y.. U. S. A. 

All rights reserved 



Originator of the War Terms: — 

"No Man's Land"; a battlefield in the World War. 

"Over the top"; an expression used in the trenches. 

"Buddy" ; a name used in the army and navy for companion 
or mate, also an authorized greeting among members 
of the American Legion. 

"Gob"; a name for sailor in the navy. 



Also the following humorous expressions which were in 
general use during the time of the World War, and 
which were current in the army and navy — ■ 

"Let's go." 

"I'll tell the World." 

"You said a mouthful." 

"It's a great life if you don't weaken." 

"You drive and I'll shovel." 

"A man may be down, but he's never out"; a slogan adopted 
during the World War by the Salvation Army and also 
by the 5th Liberty Loan Campaign. 

And many others. 



Also originator, and a founder, of the Dartmouth "Jack 
O' Lantern," — the Dartmouth College Humorous Maga- 
zine. 



DEC 26 72 

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y 



PROLOGUE 

The subject matter of the following pages was drawn primarily from the author's 
experiences which began on an island in Lake Champlain near Westport, New York, 
called No Man's Island, and his subsequent discussions with a group of distinguished 
gentlemen, the majority of whom were foreign personages, and I might say, leaders of 
thought and philanthropy in Europe. Among these was the late Count Casimir de 
Monkowski, owner of the famous motor boat, the "Ankle Deep", which won many 
speed championships on the St. Lawrence River and Lake George during the last decade. 

The time Mr. Randerson spent on the above mentioned island covered a period 
of several summers which dates back to over twenty years ago, in his early boyhood. 
The extreme loneliness, the awful isolation of the island, impressed him as a veritable. 
No Man's Island, for it seemed to him as if every living thing shunned it, and it 
remained there secluded and unseen, year after yeax, the days and months passing, 
without its existence being noted by those to whom time had a meaning, except to 
himself, and a few others, attracted to it by its very barrenness and abandonment. It 
was this island that inspired Mr. Randerson afterwards with the name "No Man's 
Land", for it was analogous in many respects, and possessed many of the vivid settings 
and elements of the "No Man's Land" of the World War. The semblance was start- 
ling,— with the exception of the destruction wrought by the fearful mechanism of 
modern warfare in the case of "No Man's Land" of Europe. 

However, in 1914, when the German Army was crushing its way forward with 
deliberate and wanton vandalism against the allied nations, and its cruel indignities and 
horrorable possibilities were being discussed in their various aspects by Mr. Randerson 
and a group of noblemen who were at Lake George at that time, the term "No Man's 
Land" suggested itself to him, by a turn of the mind which carried him back to the 
lonely and desolate island in Lake Champlain, and then overseas to the region and 
places where lonesomeness and desolation were the product, not of nature, as 
was the case of the island, but the diabolical and infernal ingenuity of man. 

Specifically, the actaul instance of Mr. Randerson's first using the term "No Man's 
Land" is as follows : 



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He was asked, during a conversation with the aforesaid noblemen, what his 
opinion was of the war. This was at the time when the Germans were raging havoc 
in Belgium and France not many weeks after the war had begun. The territory through 
which they were advancing was once the land of Mr. Randerson's ancestors. His reply 
was significant and emphatic; — namely, that they were in the act of making a "No 
Man's Land" out of Europe. The term impressed these noblemen, who were owners 
of vast estates in Europe, to such a degree that immediate steps were taken to make 
every possible and conceivable effort to prevent further or absolute destruction. Soon 
afterwards the expression was adopted by them as a name for a battle area in the 
World war. It was through Mr. Randerson's connections here in this country that the 
name was brought into use in America. 

In addition to having originated the term "No Man's Land", the following 
expressions, destined later to be popularized and hallowed by their usage in the 
World War, were originated on board a ship sailing from New Orleans to New York in 
December, 1916, when Mr. Randerson was returning to his home following an extended 
trip through the western states. Aboard this ship were many soldiers, members of 
various military organizations from different cities in the United States. Most of them 
were returning home on leave of absence from the Mexican border. It was at the time 
we were in the midst of our prolonged trouble with Mexico, a situation which necessi- 
tated the patrolling of the border by the National Guard and other troops. 

Soon after leaving New Orleans, trouble arose among the men. A soldier was 
accused by his comrades of a serious offense. A committee of investigation was 
appointed, and a court constituted by soldiers and officers, tried the offender. The 
situation became serious and intense.* Excitement ran high, and the emotions of those 
aboard, seeking an outlet, were manifested by the expressions which became so widely 
current later, and which were born at that time. Such idioms of the trenches as, "I'll 
tell the world", "How do you get that way", "Where do you get that stuff", and others 
less striking, perhaps, and therefore less familiar, were then used, I believe, for the first 
time. They were the product of excitement and trouble which prevailed among the 
men aboard the ship. And what a usage they enjoyed in the army later ! With the 
slang thus added to the military vernacular were also created the titles of many songs 
afterward popular among the soldiery, "Pack all your troubles in your old kit bag", 
"Where do we go from here" "When the clouds in the sky roll by", and others. 
The exp ression, "It's a great life if you don't weaken" was brought into fame on this 

•It was through the efforts of Mr. Randerson, and another man, that this unpleasant affair was brought to a satisfactory con- 
clusion. The newspapers at the time acclaimed it as one of the most chivalrous deeds in recent history. 



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voyage although it was originated by Mr. Randerson in Seattle, Washington, several 
weeks previous to that time. Also a host of similar phrases sprung up on this ship 
which do not here readily suggest themselves; all of which impressed those who heard 
them to a point where they speedily went the rounds of the ship and thence were 
imported into New York and later into the great armies of the Allies. There is no 
question that the battery of expressions, so created, however whimsical and slangy some 
of them may have seemed to the public as a whole, after having adjusted themselves 
properly to suit the peculiarities, caprices and exigencies of the life in the trenches, 
added considerably to the spirit and morale of the men in their days of struggle and 
hardship. 

Another matter of note which resulted from Mr. Randerson's visit to Lake George 
in the summer of 1914 was his mentioning the similarity between the allied nations as 
they entered the World War and the ancient apologue entitled, "The Fagot of Sticks". 
Perhaps the reader will recall the story. Mr. Randerson related it to the group of 
nobleman, to whom reference was made in a preceeding paragraph, suggesting its 
application to the European situation on the allied side, and they praised the accuracy 
of the comparison. The fable, in the connection to which Mr. Randerson assigned it, 
was afterward related abroad at a critical point in the war, by one of the noblemen of 
the Lake George group. Thereafter it was very frequently quoted as a similitude for the 
war situation. It is related on excellent authority that the late Czar Nicholas of Russia 
so used it. The fable, roughly narrated from memory, runs as follows: 

An old man on the point of death, summoned his sons around him to give them 
some parting advice. He ordered his servant to bring in a bundle of sticks, bound firmly 
together, and said to his oldest son, "Break them ! " The son strained and strained, but 
with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none 
of them were successful. "Untie the bundle," said the father, "and each of you take a 
stick." When they had done so, he called out to them, "Now break", and each stick 
was easily broken. "You see my meaning", said the father. "If you stand together no 
one can break you." So it was with the Allies! Bound together in the common cause, 
united for the realization of a humane and practical ideal, no German military idea of 
the will to conquer, or dominate, could prevail against them. 

During the course of Mr. Randerson's life, his acquaintance with the afore- 
mentioned noblemen, many of them representing the most notable families in Europe, 
has been kindled and ripened into friendship through incidents and occasional meetings 
which have occurred in this country and abroad, as well as through his ancestral con- 



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nections. Mr. Randerson is a descendant of prominent and noted American ancestry 
who distinguished themselves in the history and development of this country. Among 
these are John Howland who came to this country on the "Mayflower" landing with the 
Pilgrims in 1620; Dr. James Noyes, of Harvard University, one of the founders and first 
trustees of Yale University; and Captain William and Colonel Joseph Champlain of the 
Continental Army. He is also of noble English, French and Dutch ancestry which 
extends back to William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, through Edward III, King 
of England, the Lakes of Normantown and the Howard family of Yorkshire; also 
Theodoric the Great, King of the Goths and Romans through the Dietrick family of 
Holland; and the right line of Charlemagne through Louis IV, King of France, the 
Dukes of Lorraine and Louvaine, Counts of Luxemburg, Namur and Mons, and the 
Earls of Arundel and Sussex. 

The Coat of Arms of the Dietrick family is reproduced on a preceding page. 



New York, N. Y., U. S. A., L. H. C. 

December, 1922. 



•The name "No Man's Land" was later applied to the Bad Lands and parts of the unproductive regions of Arizona and the 
great southwest, following a motor trip through that region by Mr. Randerson. 



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THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR TERM— "NO MAN'S LAND. 



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THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR TERM "NO MAN'S LAND" 

BY 
J. HOWARD RANDERSON 

?N that region of the World beyond the Atlantic, ever so far remote from us, 
surrounded by pleasant valleys and vineyards, in the northern part of Europe, 
lies a devastated territory which was once called "No Man's Land". True 
this land was once the scene of terrible conflict where horror and desolation 
reigned for more than four long years. It is now shrouded with a cloak of 
sanctity and deep mourning for those who fought and gave their lives there that civili- 
zation might live. 

It has been requested of me to relate the history of the term "No Man's Land", 
from the time I first mentioned it during the early days of the World War when the 
Germans were invading Belgium and France to end their forward career at the 
Marne a few weeks later. While I am by no means certain that anything I might 
say will be worthy of a place among the eloquent tributes that have been heretofore 
written, I have sought to do what seemed to me most essential,— that is, to give a 
brief, truthful and at the same time descriptive presentation of the origin of this signally 
important term which was conspicuous during the war, and which, I believe, has 
found a sacred place in the hearts and memories of those who were in any way con- 
nected with the war. 

I was at Lake George in the State of New York in the late summer of 1914, when 
the German army was at the high tide of its fearful career through Belgium and France. 
The newspapers at the time were depicting, under startling headlines, men being torn to 
pieces, not singly, but in whole regiments, towns and farm lands being burned and 
destroyed, unheard-of cruelties inflicted upon the inhabitants, inhuman treatment of 
prisoners. The very conception of it all was rejected by the civilized mind as too 
fantastical and unreal. First we read of the Germans invading Luxemburg, then how 
they overran Belgium; then of Liege being occupied, then Brussels, Namur, the battle 
of Tannenberg, the destruction of Louvain, and how the British were swept down 
in the fields of Flanders in whole regiments and their entire army in France 
wiped out almost to the last battalion. How they, the Germans, forced the French 
line back to within a short distance of the very gates of Paris, where followed the 

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memorable battle of the Marne which ended the German advance and marked a crisis and 
turning point in the war, which was the beginning of a long gruelling counteraction of 
events and circumstances. It all came so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and appeared 
so foreign and remote at the time, that it seemed beyond human comprehension. 

It was on account of these unheard of happenings, these inconceivable atrocities 
and horrors, which the Germans perpetrated in the first flush of their campaign of fright- 
fulness, that I remarked, on a day soon after the war had begun, that they were making 
out of the territory over which they were raging warfare, — a no man's land, for it seemed 
to me that the land became, as the Germans forced their way into Belgium and France 
against the newly formed armies of the Allies, a region so thoroughly bereft and 
deprived of life that no living thing could exist there. 

The term "No Man's Land" impressed a group of foreign noblemen, who were at 
Lake George at the time, as a very expressive and appropriate description, and it was 
through this group, whose members were in sympathy with the allies, that the phrase 
was adopted. 

They carried it abroad. It became known in England, and then in France, and was 
circulated there through agencies associated with the members of the group of which I 
have spoken. Meanwhilei:he same expression was brought into use in this country as 
a result of my connection with newspapers at the time, and through conversation and 
correspondence. Thus it circulated in this country and abroad simultaneously, and 
within a remarkably short time, came into general use, not a descriptive applying to all 
the territory through which the Germans had advanced, but as a name for that stretch 
of land extending between the two opposing forces; or the territory lying directly between 
the first line trenches of the Allies and the Germans. 

As the one through whom the expression "No Man's Land" came into use, I have, 
not unnaturally, pondered deeply upon it. I have considered the term in its practical 
as well as psychological aspects, in its relation to the morale of the soldiers. How did it 
affect their spirit; their will to victory? What it did, in fact, was to stimulate them; to 
urge them on to raise a means of protection and revolt against further oppression and 
destruction, to recover themselves as quickly as possible from the tremendous onslaught 
of the enemy and to carry on a crusade of justice and rightfulness against all future 
encroachments and barbarism, lest the whole World become a "No Man's Land" and 
a place unfit to live in. And also, equally important, the term symbolized caution 
on the part of the men. History tells us that in previous wars, notably in our own 
Civil War, men unnecessarily and carelessly exposed themselves to danger and were 



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consequently shot down in counties^ numbers, and it is for this reason that the name 
"No Man's Land" was needed as a symbol, a cabalistic sign that meant a warning— 

DANGER ahead!! PERIL !! KEEP OUT!! 

Caution, which is one of first rules in discipline, was inspired by the term 
"No Man's Land". It kept men back. It made them careful. It advised them in 
unmistakable terms not to enter upon the territory which it was intended to name, 
unless under orders. To disregard its advise meant, of necessity, death. The 
instruments of modern warfare were too terrible, too searching, too precise in their 
ability to reach their mark. Thus the warning could not, consistently with the instinct 
of self-preservation, be disregarded. Men who were in the front line trenches have 
said repeatedly that the temptation td go beyond, to venture out there, was extremely 
great. But the symbolic term "No Man's Land" operated with psychological exacti- 
tude. It counseled them not to go except when the exigencies of war demanded. 
The symbol "No Man's Land" was not employed in one sector alone. It was the prevail- 
ing signal of caution along the entire front,— in France, in Belgium, in Alsace, even in 
Poland and along the Isonzo on the Italian front, and in far off Mesopotamia and along 
the Dardanelles. Wherever troops used the English language they employed the term 
"No Man's Land." 

There is scarcely a person who lived during the period of the World War who 
does not recall the harrowing stories which gravitated out of those battle areas, espe- 
cially when they were being swept by heavy artillery and machine gun fire, to say 
nothing of the uncivilized uses of poisoft gas and other forbidden weapons of warfare. 
Verdun, the Marne, Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, the Argonne Forest, the Chemin des 
Dames, St. Quentin, and other names, have been immortalized by their sinister signifi- 
cance in the greatest of all conflicts. Molested and destroyed nearly to extinction and 
almost beyond hope of eventual recovery, honey-combed and shell-pitted by mines 
and other high explosives, left destitute of all semblance of vegetation and life,— 
there remained a barren territory, many parts of which were underlaid with unex- 
ploded mines; unlivable,— unspeakable, where no man dared trespass. 

It was a terrible gulf between the two opposing forces which seemed to swallow 
up all things human, which existed in so accurate a similitude of the inferno, as to 
surpass in reality any fantasy that has ever found its way into the human imagination. 

Such, then, was "No Man's Land". Never in the history of the World has a 
place existed which bore so much suffering and hardship, such a multitude of death 
and horror, in a unit of area, as in this territory, which moved back and forth 



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with the fortunes of battle, and bore always the implied inscription, — "No Man's 
Land". The grief of a civilized world has proven how deep is the appreciation, how 
unstinted the thankfulness, which the World feels toward those men who gave their 
lives there that civilization might live, and the most beautiful and sacred tribute we can 
pay those men remains unspoken. 

Since the war civilization has regarded "No Man's Land" with a new 
solemnity of remembrance and gratitude, because "No Man's Land" has acquired a 
meaning which will inhere in it to the end of time, inborn and inseparable to the 
World War. It is the meaning which the great and unselfish loyalty, the noble 
courage, the self-sacrificing heroism, of the men who fought and died there have given 
it It was conseaated in their blood, and received the immortal title to survive 
after everything fashioned by human hands shall have passed away, the name of 
"No Man's Land". 



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